Phonograph



March 29,1927. 1,622,814

F.J.SEABOLT PHONOGRAPH Filed Sept. 2 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 1\ Fly].

, 1,622,814 F. J. SEABOLT v PHQNOGRAPH March 29, 1927.

Filed Sept. 2.3, 1919 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 18.

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March 29, 1927.

F. J. SEABOLT Fly 12.

Patented Mar. 29, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

FRA NK J. SEABOLT, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE PHONOGRAPH COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

' rnonosnarn.

r Application filed September 23, 1919. Serial No. 325,766.

My .invention relates to'the control of phonographs and th'e" like, andprovides means whereby a device of this character vmay be caused toautomatically repeat its operation. It also provides means wherebydifferent records, which are automatically shifted, may be played.

. My invention is well adapted to phonographs in which a spring motorfor operating the machine is electrically wound although it is notlimited to this particular application. In my previous application,Serial No. 247,908, filed August 2, 1918, I

- havedescribed and claimed means whereby upon the completion of arecord the spring .motor is automatically wound and the tone armreturned, with the needle lifted, to its or am initial position. In saidapplication I have described and claimed means whereby the playing ofthe record will be repeated automaticallyregardless of the size of therecord or the pitch of the threads (number of lines per inch) therebeing no other manual operation than that of the starting lever.

In one aspect of my present invention it comprises improvements upon thearrangement disclosed in said application, such improvements includingthe use of mechanical means for bringing about the desired resultsinstead of the electrical or electro-magnetic means therein disclosed.It also includes other important features which will be moreparticularly .pointed out hereinafter.

In another aspect my invention comprises a phonograph or the like whichis entirely automatic, that is, successive records will be playedwithout the intervention of the operator. .This automatic feature iswell adapted for use in connection with the repeating arrangement,since, in one embodiment of my invention, the. records are automaticallyshifted while the machine is being wound and the tone arm returned withthe needle lifted. Furthermore, by the use of myrepeating arrangementrecords of various sizes may be shifted and played with no other manualcontrol than that of the starting lever. By the use of my invention astack of records of any size may be placed in position and the machinestarted, whereupon the records will be successively shifted to playingposition and finally deposited in a stack at another point. When thelast record in the stack has been played the operation will cease.

,ing of the needle with the tone arm returning that disclosed in myapplication above re My invention will be more clearly understood fromthe following specification in which I have shown my invention embodiedin concrete form for purposes of illustration.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my' invention in concrete formFig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of. the arrangement of parts andshowing the circuit connections. Fig. 2 shows the details of thearrangement for securing the switch operating member to the tone arm andsimultaneously starting the machine. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same.Figs. {1, 5 and 6 show the members for interlocking the lift mechanism.Fig. 7 shows a clutch operated by the brake lever. Fig. 8 shows amodified arrangement for closing the motor circuit when the machine isstopped. Fig. 9 is a plan view of an automatic machine embodying myinvention. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the same. Figs. 11 to 14 inclusiveshow details of the feeding magazine. Figs.

15 and 16 show details of the receiving magazine. Figs. 17 and 18 showdetails ,of the of circuits.

Referring first to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the general arrangementis similar to ferred to. The spring motor for the phonograph isrepresented at 10 as driving the rotatable table 11, through wormgearing 12, in the usual. manner. The electric motor for winding thespring motor is shown at 13, the winding being done through worm 14 onthe motor shaft and worm wheel 15 on the spring arbor 16. The contactsfor controlling the motor circuit are represented at 17 and 18respectively, contact 17 being driven by the spring motor through worm19, gears 19', 20, 21 and 22 and sleeve23, while contact '18 is drivenby the electric motor from worm 24 secured to arbor 16 and worm wheel 25secured to shaft 26 which 100 passes through sleeve 23. These twocontacts 17 and 18 both have the same gear relation with theirrespective driving members, that is, the gearrelation between contact 17and the drum of the spring motor 105' a certain number of turns indriving the 110 shifting finger, and Fig. 19 shows a diagramv table 11,the contact 17 will be turned a certain portion of a revolution and ifthe arbor 16 is given the same number of turns to restore the springtension, the contact 18 will be moved exactly the same portion of arevolution as contact 17 and in the same direction. Contact 17 is ametallic disk having a. brush 27 engaging its edge and provided with aneccentric rib 28 of insulating material enclosing an insulating section29 on the disk. Contact 18 comprises a similar metallic disk having abrush 30 engaging its edge and a spring finger 31 engagin the disk ofthe contact 17. This spring nger is arranged to be deflected by the rib28 so as to snap from the insulating section 29 to the metallic surfaceand vice versa. This form of contacting device is fully described in myPatent No. 1,180,743, and other patents and, consequently, needs no moredetailed description. The result of all this is that if there were noother control for the motor 13 than the sliding contacts 17 and 18, whenthe motor circuit is closed by the spring finger 31 snapping over ontothe metallic portion of the disk which it engages, the spring would bewound up by just the amount which it had run down. If,

however, the motor circuit should be open at another point when thecontact is made, the electric motor will not, of course, be energizedbut the contacts willcontinue in sliding engagement until the circuit isc0mpletcd at the other point. In my present arrangement the motorcircuit is controlled by a switch 32 associated with the brake lever 33of the machine. This switch 32 is closed only when the brake is appliedto stop the machine so that, if the spring motor has run down far enoughto close the contacts 17--18, if the brake lever is operated to stop themachine, the motor 13 will be energized and wind the spring to itsoriginal tension at which point the motor circuit will be opened at thecontacts 1718. This rewinding arrangement is covered by my previousapplication, Serial No. 26,059, filed May 5, 1915.

\Vhile the motor is winding the spring, it is likewise turning the tonearm back to its original position. This is accomplished by a gear 34driven from the arbor 16 through bevel gears 35, shaft 36, bevel pinion37 and bevel gear 38. The gear 34 is adapted to be moved into and out ofengagement with gear sector 39. To this end gear 38, which drives gear34, is adapted to rotate slightly about pinion 37, so that gear 34 willbe rotated into and out of engagement with sector '39. As shown thebearing 40 for gear 38-is rotatably mounted on shaft 36. A projection 41from the end of the bearing 40 is employed to throw the gear 34 intomesh with sector 39 in a manner hereindescribed.

In order to lift the needle when the 1110- tor is energized and beforethe turning movement of the tone arm is begun, I provide 7 43 back ofwhich are driving pins 44. Each.

of these pawls is so mounted that when it reaches a substantiallyvertical position above the center of the disk it will drop over awayfrom its driving pm if there is nothing to prevent it. If, however, thepivoted lever 45 should be in the position shown in the drawing it willbe engaged by the pawl and turned on its pivot. Lever 45 is connected bylink 46 with a lever 47 mounted on a shaft 48 and a latch 49 is adaptedto engage lever 47 and hold it when moved by the pawl 43 to the positionshown in-dotted lines. It will be understood, of course, that one pawlwill do the lifting but it may be preferable to employ two or even morepawls so that the lifting will be done promptly after the motor starts.The latch is moved to release the lever 47 by arm 50 operated in amanner hereinafter described.

Mounted on shaft 48 are the members 51 and 52 which lift the needle andengage the projection 41 to throw the gear 34 into mesh with gear sector39. In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 I have shown these two parts 51 and 52cooperating with each other. Member 51, shaped as shownin Fig. 4, issecured to shaft 48 and acts as a carrier for part 52 which is shaped asshown in Fig. 6. Part 52 is pivoted to part 51 at 53 and is providedwith lugs carrying a pin 54 to which the end'of a band 55, which liftsthe needle, is secured. The other end of the band is secured to thepivot of the reproducer and needle so that the needle will be liftedwhen the band is drawn as will be readily understood. The

part 52 has a face 57 which engages the projection 41 to throw the gear34 into mesh with sector 39, but this will only occur provided there isa pull on band due to the lifting of the needle. Referring to Figs. 5and 6 it will be obvious that as member 51 is rotated in a clockwisedirection by shaft 48, if there is a. strain on hand 55, the part 52will maintain its position with reference to part 51, this strainkeeping a lug 58 on part 52 against the part 51. This lug, of course,prevents the turning of the part 52 in a counter clockwise direction andcauses the lifting of the needle. The projection 41 will accordingly bemoved as shown in dotted lines (Fig. 5). If, however, there should be nopull on the band 55, due for instance to a breakage of the band or itsconnections, as the member 51 is turned, the member 52 will simply turnon its pivot 53 as shown in Fig. 6, and the projection 41 will not bemoved. The result will be that if the lifting band or its connection isbroken so as not to lift the needle,'the tone arm will not be turned,notwithstanding the fact that the motor winds the spring and the shaft48 is turned and latched. Inorder to slightlyretard the dropping of theneedle I provide the dash pot 48.

'lurning now to the means for limiting the return movement of the tonearm so. that it will always come back to the osition from which itstarted regardless of t e size of the record or the number of lines. perinch on the record, it willbe seen, that I have provided a switch whichI shall designate as a whole as 59. The contacts 60 of this switch arein a parallel circuit with the contacts 32 and therefore in series withthe contacts 1718. It the switch 59 is opened, therefore, the windingmotor will stop. Likewise if the contacts 1718 are closed, (and theywill close beforea record is completed, the sooner after the starting ofthe record the better) when the switch 59 is closed the motor 13 willoperate. It is this switch 59 which controls the motor when the machineisrunning. To this-end'I so arrange the parts that while the machine isrunning the cir- 4 cuit will not be opened at contacts 1718 becausetheswitch'59 will open the circuit before the spring has been wound up farenough to open the contacts 1718. Then the machine is stopped, however,andthe circuit closed at contacts 32 the motor will wind the spring toits original tension since the winding will then be controlled bycontacts 17-4-18 as before described, but the needle will not be liftednor the tone arm turned.

' The switch 59 is-operated by the movement of the tone arm. It isoperated in one direction (to close the motor circuit) by a lug 61 fixedto the tone arm, and in the opposite direction (to open the motorcircuit) by a member or lug 62 which is secured to the tone arm when themachine is started and while it is running, but which, when the machineis stopped, is released from the tone arm. The member 62 is secured tothe tone arm in the position in which it opens the switch 59 so thatwhen the tone arm returns to that position, carrying with it the member62, the switch 59 will be opened and the winding stopped. \Vhen themotor is stopped the latch 49 is likewise moved to release the arm47.Wl'1l0l1 allows' the needle to drop and the gear 34 to leave sector39. In order to securethe member 62 to the tone arm I provide thearrangement shown in detail in'Figs. 2 and 3. The member is secured to aring 63 which loosely surrounds the. tone arm and is adapted to beclutched to the tone arm by the operation of the. lever 64 which alsoacts as the starting lever of the machine. In the arrangement shown Iemploy a spring bale 65 which surrounds the to e arm and is loca ed in ag oove 66 on the tone arm.- ,The ends of this bale 65 are connected withthe lever 64 which is pivoted to lugs 67 at 68 on the ring 63. Thearrange ment is such that as the lever 64 isthrown back to the positionshown in Fig. 2, the spring bale 65 and the ring 63 are clutched to thetone arm by a toggle action. lVhen the connection point of the bale to:the lever passes below the pivotal point 68 of the lever, the lever isstopped by a lug 69 andthe ring 63 carrying the member 62, the bale 65and the lever 64 are all clutched to the tone arm. As shown, the lever64 projects upward through the cover board 70. -This cover boardfisslotted at 71 to permit the lever 64 to travel with the tone arm butprevents the lever from being operated to release the parts from thetone arm and stop the machine until the tone arm is brought back to itsinitial position. If it were possible to throw the,lever 64 in anyposition and stop the machine, the member62 would be left in anintermediate position so that upon again starting it would not be in aproper position to operate the switch 59. It will be understood, ofcourse, that when the machine is stopped and the lever 64 and associatedparts are unclutched from the tone arm, these parts are perfectly freefrom the tone arm. In order, therefore, to hold them in proper positionI employ a holding device which I have shown inthe form of a clip 72into which the lever 64 is thrown in the off position, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 2.

The connection between the operating lever 64 and the brake lever 33 ,isclearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. As shown,'this brake lever is of theusual type, that is, it-

is spring applied when the operated portion is thrown over center. Theoperated end is in the form of a yoke 72' into which a pro je'ction 73on the lever 64 enters when the latter is in its starting position. Asshown, there is no connection between the starting lever .64 and thebrake lever during the playing ofa record or at least after the tone armhas moved a short distance. There. is no means other than the lever 64for operating the brake, however, the latter, as shown, being on theunder side of the 'cover board-70. p

The operating lever 64 also operates the clutch '16 between the arbor 16and the disk 42. When lever 64 is thrown to stop the machine the motorcompletes the winding of the spring, but at this time it is unnecessaryand in the present arrangement undesirable to have the needle lifted andthe tone arm clutch thrown in. I accordingly unclutch the, disk 42 fromthe arbor 16 whenthe lever 64 is thrown to stop the machine. This I dothrough a lever 64'- connected with the yoke 72 of the brake lever.-.:Lever 64' actuates sliding clutch member 65 through connection 66' (Fig.7 As shown, when the lever 64 is thrown to the OK or braking position,the clutch member 65 is thrown out of engagement with its cooperatingmember on the disk 42. When the lever 64 is thrown to start the machinethe clutch is thrown in. p

- The switch 59 I have shown as of the overcenter spring type andcomprises an operat ing lever 74 '(Fig. 3) and a switch lever 75 pivotedat 76. WVhen the operating lever 74 is thrown so as to throw the pointof attachqnent of the spring thereto over center, the

switch will be operated in a well understood manner. The operatingmember 62 for the switch normally rests against a pin 7 7 on the switchoperating lever 74, the latter being in is reached.

the position in which the switch lever 75 will be thrown to openposition. It will be understood, of course, that this pin 77 is alsoengaged by the'lug 61 to throw the switch to closed position when theend of a record Secured to the operating member of the switch lever 75is a rod 75 which carries the arm 50.

. operation of the machine as thus far described will be as follows: Arecord being placed on the machine, the operator first places the needleon the record in the usual way as shown in Fig. 1, the table of coursebeing stationary. The operator now merely v starts the machine in theusual way by throwing the lever 64 to the position shown in Figs. 2 and3. The operation of the lever 64 not only starts the .machine but alsoclutches the switch operating member 62 to the tone arm, it being in theposition shown in Fig.3. The disk 42 is also clutched to arbor 16. Themachine now starts and the tone arm carries with it the member 62, theoperating lever 64 also moving with the tone arm. When the end of therecord is reached the tone arm is thrown over to the circular groove 79and the lug 61 closes the switch 59. The motor circult is now closedfrom line a through the contacts l7-18 which are now closed, through themotor 13, switch contacts 60 of switch 59 and back to the other side ofthe line b. When the motor starts'to operate, the needle is liftedthrough the pawl 43 and gears 34 and 39 are thrown into mesh to turn thetone arm back. The latch 49 holds the parts in this position. Ag. beforestated the gear relation between the spring arbor and the tone arm issuch that the latter is returned to its original position before themotor has completed the winding operation, that is, before the circuithas been broken at contacts 17-18. As the tone arm returns, the member62 engages the pin 77 of switch 59 and when the tone arm reaches itsoriginal position, the switch arm 74 snaps over to the open position. Atthe same time the latch 49 is operated to release the needle and alsothe gear 34 from engagement with sector 39. The motor and tone arm,therefore, stop and the needle is low- .ered to the record with aslightly retarded movement. The record is now played again as before andwhen the end is reached the tone arm is returned in the manner abovedescribed. To stop the machine at any time, the tone arm must first beturned back to its original position, that is, until the member 62engages the pin 77 of the switch 59, the reproducer' of course beingturned back on to the tone arm in the usual way. The lever 64 may now bethrown to stop the machine and simultaneously unclutch theoperating'lever and associated parts from the tone arm, also release thedisk 42 from the spring arbor 16. In the off position lever 64 will beheld by the clip 72. It will thus be seen that the needle will alwaysreturn to its starting point, and the spring will be wound at eachreturn, but will be fully wound when the machine is stopped.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a modification in which instead of closingcontacts when the stopping lever is operated, they are closed when thereproducer is turned back on to the tone arm. The contacts 32',therefore, correspond with contacts 32 in Fig. 1. The sub stitution ofthis arrangement for that of Fig. 1 would involve no other change.

In Figs. 9 to 1.9 I have shown an arrangement for automatically changingrecords. In this arrangement I have utilized the repeating phonographabove described although my invention ie not limited to the use of thisphonograph. In this arrangement it will be observed that a stack ofrecords is placed at one side of the phonograph table from which therecords are automatically fed to the table and then automaticallytransferred to the other side of the table. While the tone arm is beingreturned with the needle lifted to its initial'position, the record isshifted to the right and another record is moved from the left to thetable to take its place. Vhen the needle drops, therefore, in itsinitial position instead of repeating a record, the new record shallhave taken its place. To this end all of the records of a certaindiameter should have the thread begin at substantially the same distancefrom the edge of the record. Instead of this a spiral thread of steeppitch, not shown, such as is employed at the middle of the record, asshown'in Fig. 1, could be employed which would start at the properdistance from the edge and end 'at the beginning of the regular recordthread; I prefer, however, to have the regular thread begin at theproper distance from the edge of the record since this caneasily be donein making the record.

Referring now to Figs. 9 and 10, it will be seen that a stack of recordsof a certain size is placed in the magazine at 80. This magazine willhold records of any standard size which are centered in the magazine bya pin 81. The records are automatically fed to the level of the table,that is, when 3. record is withdrawn another takes its place, in amanner hereinafter described. At 82 is another magazine for receivingthe records after they have been played. In other words, the stack ofrecords is transferred from to 82. For accomplishing this purpose Iemploy, in the particular arrangement shown, an arm 83 having a pin 84at its outer end which registers with the center hole in the record.This arm is moved by an electric motor 85 (Fig. 19) which is energizedwhen the needle is lifted. The stopping of this motor, however, iscontrolled by the motor itself after it has made a predetermined numberof revolutions. When the motor starts, therefore, it always makes adefinite number of revolutions before stopping and in doing so causesthe arm 83 to go through its complete cycle. During the playing of therecord the arm is in its central position as shown in the drawing, thepin on its end acting as the centering pin instead of the usual pin onthe table. When the shifting motor 85 is started, it first moves thearm, and with it the record which has been played, to the right as faras the magazine at 82. The

arm then starts to the left, leaving the record behind in the magazine.The arm now moves over to the center of the records in the magazine 80and the pin drops into'the center hole in the top record. The arm nowmoves back to the right, carrying with it the top record and finallystops at the playing position on the table. All this takes place whilethe tone arm is being returned with the needle lifted and the springmotor is being wound. The arrangement of the pin in the end of the armis shown in Figs. 17

and 18. This pin is hinged at 86 so that it will glide over the recordwhen the arm is moved to theleft, but when the arm is moved to the rightit assumes a vertical position. This pin may have the surface whichbears on the surface of the record of some material which will notscratch the record although this may not be necessary since the pressureof the pin on the record will be very light.

In order to bring about the cycle of operation of the arm as abovedescribed I employ a mutilated annular gear 87 which is driven slowly bythe motor. The reduction gearing between the motor and this annular gearis such that the motor in making its predetermined number of revolutionsturns the annular gear through one complete turn. The pinion 88 whichdrives the arm 83 is engaged on one side by the teeth of the annulargear at to turn the arm in one direction (to the right) and-on itsopposite sideby teeth 89 to turn the arm in the other direction (to theleft). The number of teeth at 89 are sufficient tocarry the arm from thecenter over to the magazine at the right, while the teeth at 90 willcarry the arm from that point over to the center of the records in themagazine 80. The teeth at 91 will then carry the arm from that pointback to the playing osition, thus completing the cycle during w ich theannular gear has made a complete turn.

Turning now to the details of the magazines, the magazine 80 is shown inFigs. 11 14. It comprises a casing 92 in the top of the cabinet 93having its top flush with the top of the phonograph table at 94. 4Within this casing is a platform 95 upon which the records to be playedare stacked. The centering pin 81 is mounted on this platform, the

pin passing through the center holes in the successive records. Thispiri 'is vertically movable a slight distance because it should be highenough to center the last record when the magazine is filled, but mustbe out of the way when the top record is drawn off. A sliding frameconsisting of the three rods 96, 97 and 98mounted on a base 99 isarranged to be moved upward from ts lowermost position, shown in Fig.11, to its uppermost position, shown in Fig. 12, where it is held by thespring pressed balls 100. Secured to the platform 95 is a U-shapedmemher 101 which passes freely through the base 99. When the frame israised, therefore, the base engages the platform and lifts it to theposition shown in Fig. 12. 7

Between the bottom of the U-shaped piece 101- andthe bottom of thecasing is a spring 102 which forces the stack of records upward when onehas been removed. Hinged to the top of rod 96 isa cover plate 103 whichacts as a stop and can be swung to the position shown in dotted lines inFig. 14. This cover is held down by a rod 104 having a loop 105 in itsmiddle portion and having its ends bent into the form of cranks 105'adapted to engage. with hooks 106 on the tops of rods 97 and 98. It willbe obvious that by turning the rod 104 from the position shown in Figs.11 and 13 until the loop 105 is vertical, as shown in Fig. 14, thecranked ends will pass from under the hooks and assume a horizontalposition against the cover. In this position the cranks'will clear thehooks when the coveris' turned on its hinge.- Secured to the under sideof the base 99 is a bracket 107 which supports the pin 81 through aspring 108, the rod being provided with a collar 109 upon which thespring bears. When the frame is up as shown in Figs.

" 12 and 14, the pin extends upward to the cover-plate 103, but when theframe is pushed down, as shown in Fig. 11, a pivoted lever 110 on theunder side of the base 99 engages a stationary lug 111 on the casing,forcing the inner end of the lever which projections 112 on the casing.These hooks have finger grips and are hung so as to automatically engagetheir projections when the frame is pushed down. To lift the frame thefinger grips on the hooks are taken hold of and by pulling upward thehooks are disengaged. from the projections and the frame may be pulledup and latched by the balls 100.

To load the magazine, therefore, the frame is raised to the positionshown in Figs. 12 and 14, and the cover plate is swung to the verticalposition. Ihe records are now stacked on to the platform 95, thecentering pin passing through the holes in the records. As many recordsas desired, up to the capacity of the magazine may be put in. In Fig.12I have shown, for purposes of illustration, themagazine only partiallyfilled. The cover is now clamped down and the frame pushed downwardovercoming the locking balls 100. As the frame moves downward, theplatform 95, which is spring pressed upward, does not move until thecover plate reaches the records. From then on, the records and platformalso move compressing the spring 102. Of course, if the magazine hadbeen filled, the records would have moved at once. reaches the bottom,it is latched as shown in Fig. 12, the centeringpin 81 being in themeantime moved downward to the posi' tion shown in dotted lines inFig.11 as above described. It will be obvious now that if the top recordis drawn out, the platform will be moved upward by the spring 102 sothat the next record will be in the place of the one removed. lVhen thelast record is removed, the contacts 113 (Fig. 11) will be bridged bycontact 114 to stop the machine as hereinafter described.

The magazine 82 is shown in Figs. 15 and 16. It consists of a platform115 spring pressed upward by a spring 116. When there are no records inthe magazine the When the frame platform 115 is flush with the rotatingtable. WVhen a record is moved onto the platform it passes under a guide115 pivoted at 116.

The ends of this guide are turned upward as shown so as to start therecord under the guide and the spring 116 then yields to force therecord downward so that its upper surface is at the level of the tableor below. Each end of the guide is divided into two fingers 117 and 118which may yield somewhat. Fingers 117 are a little higher than fingers118 and are for engaging a smaller record at its edge, whereas fingers118 engage a larger record at its edge. When a large record enters themaga-- zine, therefore, the fingers 118 engage it at its edge and pressit downward, the fingers 117 not engaging the record, but when a smallerrecord enters, the fingers 117 engage it and force it down, the fingers118 not engaging it. The guide 115 is held in place by a latch 119having an operating handle 120. The latch and handle, as shown, are on aresilient support so that when the guide is forced downward the latch119 will automatically lock it. To remove the records, the handle 120 ispulled to the rightand the guide 115 lifted. When the magazine is filledwith records to its limit, the contacts 121 are bridged by a contact 122to stop the machine as hereinafter described.

In Fig. 19 I have shown a diagram of the circuit connections for therecord shifting motor. This motor is energized when the reproducerreaches the end of the record, so as to close contacts 123, these beingclosed when the switch 59 (Fig. 1) is closed. In order to insure,however, that the shifting motor is not operated until the needle islifted I have its circuit also controlled by contacts 124 which areclosed when the clutch gears 34 and 39 (Fig. 1) are thrown in. In otherwords, contacts 123 and 124 must both be clo ed before the motor canstart. I also provide a push button switch 125 controlled by theoperator. If this switch 125 is closed when the contacts 123 and 124 areclosed, the motor will start, but if the switch 125 is open, the motorwill not start and the record will be repeated instead of a new recordtaking its place. In other words, by pushing the button B (Fig. 10) therecord will be repeated and by pushing button A the record will beautomatically shifted. l/Vhen the motor starts it makes its own circuitat commutator 126 which short circuits contacts 123,124 and switch 125.This commutator is geared to the motor so as to make one revolutionwhile the motor is rotating sufficiently to give the arm 83 a completecycle. Slip ring 127 of this commutator is provided with an insulatingsection 128 so that when the brush 129 runs on to this insulatingsection the motor will stop, since in the meantime contacts 123 havebeen opened by the turning back of the reproducer. The motor will,therefore, when once started continue to run until a'cycle is completed.In order to stop the machine when the last record is removed or when thereceiving magazine is filled I provide a second brake 130 operated by anelectromagnet 131. This electromagnet is energized either when contacts113 of magazine 80 are closed by contact 114 which happens when the lastrecord is removed or when contacts 121 of receiving magazine 82 arebridged by contact 122 which happens when the magazine is filled. Whenthe electrou'iagriet 131 is energized, it throws on the brake 130 whichis of the over-center spring type and at the same time opens its owncircuit at contacts 132 so that the current will be cut off the magnet.Between the brake 130 and the main brake is an interlocking rod 133having a pin and 'rilot connection with the brake lever at 134. Thearrangement-is such that the brake 33 normally operates back and forthwithout being aii'ectod by brake 130, but it brake 130 is thrown on byits operating magnet, it will be thrown off by throwing the main brake33 on. In other words, if the machine is stopped automatically by eitherof the magazine switches,,to start the machine again the magazine switchwhich has closed should be opened either by putting a record or recordsin magazine 80 or taking records out of magazine 82, as the case may be,and then throwing the main brake 33 to OK position. The stopping of themachine will not, of course, prevent the shifting motor from completingits cycle and bringing the arm 83 to its central or normal position. Itwill thus be seen that by placing a record on the table and puttingrecords into magazine 80., the throwing of the starting lever 64 to lstarting position will start the operation and the records will besuccessively played and deliveredto receiving magazine. 82 until themachine is stopped either manually by the starting lever 64 orautomatically by the magazine switclres asabove described. It will beunderstood, of course, that the machine may play individual records inthe usual way, the button R being pressed. The records may be changed bymoving them off the table to the right and may be inserted by slidingthem on to the table from the left. It may be desirable in order toprevent the possible scratching of the records to have the outer edge ofthe records raised slightly or thickened at the edges and the center ofthe record might be similarly thickened. The pressure on the records inthe magazine is very light, however, and nothing of this kind may benecessary.

WVhile I have described my invention as I embodied in concrete form andas operating in a specific manner in accordance with the provisions ofthe patent statutes, it should thereof will suggest themselves to thoseskilled in the art without departing from thespirit of my invention. thescope of which is setforth in the annexed claims.

Whatl claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. The'combination with a'phonograph or the like for playing discrecords of a stack of records arranged adjacent to the phonograph, meansfor biasing the records towards a position to be shifted, a stop engagedby the exposed record in shifting position so that when that record isremoved the stack of records will automatically move to bring the nextrecord to shifting position, and means for automatically shifting theexposed records successively from the-stack to playing position on thetable and then shifting them from playing position.

2. The combination with a phonograph for playing disc records, of astack of records adjacent to the phonograph table, means forsuccessively feeding the records upward Whenever the top record isremoved inany manner so that the top record is at the level of the tableand means for successively shifting the top records to the table andthen shifting them Oh? the table.

3. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing diskrecordsat a fixed level, of means for supporting a stack of records adjacentthe phonograph table with the bottom surface of the top record atsubstantially the level of the table, means for feeding the records tomaintain this condi tion as successive records are removed in any mannerand means. for automatically shitting the top record to playing positionon the table.

4. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records in contact with each other arranged onone side of the table and mechanism for automatically and successivelysliding records from the stack to playing position on the table and thensliding them to the other side of the table.

5. The combination'with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a magazine of records in contact with each other on one sideof the table and mechanism set into operation upon the completion of arecord for automatically sliding the played record off the table to theother side thereof and sliding another record onto the table from rangedadj aoent thereto, means whereby upon the removal of the top record. ofthe stack in any manner the next record automatically takes its placeand mechanism set into operation upon the completion of a record forreplacing the played record by the top record of the stack.

7. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records in contact with each other arrangedadjacent thereto, and mechanism set into operation upon the completionof a record for automatically shifting the top record horizontally olfthe stack to the table and shifting the played record ofi' the table.

8. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of an electric motor energized to make a predetermined numberof revolutions independently of the phonograph mechanism upon the-completion of a record and record shifting means operated by saidmotor.

9. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a member movable back and forth above the table of thephonograph and normally in the center thereof and means whereby upon'the completion of a record the member is so moved to shift a record oilthe table and replace it by another.

10. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of an oscillating mechanism operated through a definite cycleupon the completion of a record and means whereby said mechanism in itsmovement shifts the record and replaces it by another taken from a stackof records.

11. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of an oscillating mechanism operated through a definite cycleupon the completion of a record and a pin carried by said mechanism andnormally centering the record on the table, said pin acting to shift therecord ofl the table and replace it by another record.

12. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a member provided with means for engaging the center of arecord and normally centering a record on the rotating table, anddriving means for said member whereby upon the completion of a recordthe record will be shifted off the table and the centering means willengage a new record and move it to playing position on the table.

13. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of an oscillating mechanism operated through a definite cycleupon the completion of a record and a pin carried by said mechanism andnormally centering the record on a table, said pin acting to shift therecord onto the ta le.

14. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a magazine for holding a stack of records arranged adjacentthe rotating table thereof and oscillating mechanism operated through adefinite cycle upon the completion of a record and carrying a pin whichnormally centers the record on the table, said pin acting to shift thetop record horizontally off the stack of records and onto the table.

15. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords of a record shifting and centering mechanism and means wherebyupon the completion of a record the said mechanism is set into operationto shift the played record from the table, move a new record onto thetable and maintain it in central position thereon.

16. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a pin normally centering a record upon the rotating tableand mechanism set in operation upon the completion of a record formoving said pin to engage a new record and return with the record toitsnormal position.

17. The combination with a phonograph or the like of means for causing areturn movement of the tone arm upon the comple tion of a record, aswitch for limiting the return movement of'the tone arm, an operatingmember for said switch'normally in operative position with reference tothe switch, means for securing the operating member to the tone arm uponthe starting of the phonograph and means for preventing the stopping ofthe phonograph and the release of the operating member until the tonearm is returned to its normal position.

18. The combination with a phonograph or the like of means for causing areturn movement of the tone arm upon the completion of a record, aswitch for limiting the return movement of the tone arm, an operatingmember for said switch normally in operative position with reference tothe switch, means for securing the operating member to the tone arm uponthe starting of the phonograph and means for holding the operatingmember in'its operative position when the phonograph is stopped.

19. The combination witlra phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records adjacent the table having ,the top recordat substantially the level of the table and means for automaticallysliding the top record off the stack and into playing position on thetable.

20. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records adjacent the table having the top recordat substantially the level of the table and means for automaticallysliding theplayed record off the table and sliding the top record offthe stack and into playing position on the table.

21. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords,of means for holding a plurality of superimposed recv ordsadjacent the table and means for sliding played records ofi the tableand sliding the superimposed records successively from the top toplaying position.

22. Thecombination with a phonograph or the like for playing diskrecords of a member projecting into the center hole of a record duringthe playing ofthe record and means whereby when the playing of a recordis completed, the member is automatically moved to slide the record offthe table and'shift anew record to playing position. v

23. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing diskrecords of means for holding a stack-of records adjacent the phonographtable and means for sliding the played record oif the table upon itscompletion and sliding the top record off the stack and on to the table.

24. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing diskrecords of amember movable across the phonograph table and back, meansfor removing said membcr,'a pin carried by said member for entering thecenter hole of a record and shifting the record to and from the tablewhen the member moves in one direction, said pin moving out of the holeand sliding on the face of the record when the member is moved in theopposite direction.

25. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing diskrecords, of a member movable across the phonograph table and back, a pincarried by said member for entering the center hole of a record andmoving it in one direction but leaving the record behind when the memberis moved in the opposite direction and means whereby when the playing ofa record is completed the member is moved to shift the record off thetable, returns to the opposite side of the table and shifts a new recordto playing position.

, 26. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords of a movable member, oscillating mechanism -for operating saidmember through a predetermined cycle upon the completion of a record, anelement connected with said member andnormally entering the center holeof the record on the table and means whereby upon the movement of saidmember in one direction the element leaves the record behind but when itmoves in the opposite direction it carries the record with it.

27. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of means for suppdrting a stack of records adjacent to thetable and oscillating means for shifting the played record and shiftinga new record from the stack to replace it.

28. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a v membenoscillated in a horizontal-plane above theftablethereof, a stack of records adjacent to the table and means whereby themovement of the member back and forth throughout a predetermined cycleshifts a record off the table and replaces it by a record from thestack. 29. The combination with a phonograph or the like, of a memberoscillated through it moves the record with it when it moves in onedirection but leaves the hole so that the record remains stationary whenit moves in the opposite direction. I 30. The combination with the usualphonograph havinga table rotating in a fixed plane, for playing discrecords, of a magazine for a stack of records adjacent the table of thephonograph and means whereby whenever the top record of the stack isremoved in any manner the next record is automatically moved to replaceit.

31. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records adjacent the table, a stop, means forforcing said stack of records against said stop so that the exposedrecord always comes to a definite position with reference to the tableas successive records are removed from the stack and .means forautomatically shifting the exposedrecords to the table to be played andthen off the table.

32. The combination with a phonograph for playing disc records, of astack of records adjacent the table, means for maintaining the toprecord at substantially the level of the table as successive records areremoved from the top, and means for successively shifting the toprecords to the table to be playedand then off the table, the movement ofthe records to and from the table being entirely in a horizontaldirection.

33. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a record shifting member, an electric motor energized uponthe completion of a record, driving connections between the motor andthe member whereby upon the energization of the motor the member willshift the played record to one side of the table and then move to theopposite side of the table, engage a record and move it to playingposition on the table and means for automatically,deenergizing the motorupon the completion of the cycle.

34. The combination with a phonograph, ofa magazine for unplayed recordsadjacent the phonograph table, means whereby the records areautomatically fed forward as successive records are removed so that theexposed record'in the magazine always antomatically assumes a definitepositi n with reference to the table, a receptacle for played recordsbelow the level of the table and means whereby upon the completion of arecord the played record will be shifted to the receptacle and a newrecord will be shifted from the magazine to, the table.

35. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records arranged adjacent to the" position andmeans for automatically main-' taining the cooperative relation betweenthe shifting member and the exposed record, regardless of the number ofrecords removed or the method of removing them. whereby the records inthe stack may be changed at any time. 7

36. The combination with a phonograph for playing disc records, of astack of records adjacent to the. phonograph table, meansforsuccessively feeding the records forward so that the exposed record isalways in a definite position with reference to the table and means forsuccessively shifting the top records with their body portion supportedfrom below to the table and then sh1 ing them oif the table.

37. The combination with a phonograph or the like 'for playin discrecords, of a magazine of records ad acent the table. a receptaclefor'played records, a record shifting member normally in shiftingposition at the table and movable back and forth between the table andthe magazine and means whereby upon completion of a record the member isso moved to shift a record off the table and replace it by another fromthe magazine.

38. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing disc.records, of a stack of records adjacent the table, a mechanism forshifting records while mechanically supported from below operatedthrough a definite cycle upon the completion of a record and meanswhereby said mechanism in its movement replaces the record on the tableby another taken from the stack.

39. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a magazine of records adjacent thereto,- a

member for shifting records while supported from below, normally arraned to permit a record to be manually placed in playing position upon thephonograph table, and means whereby upon the completion of a record, themember is moved to replace the played record by another taken from thestack.

40. The combination with a phonograph or the like-for playing discrecords, of a shifting member movable back and forth above the table ofthe phonograph and nor;

or the like for playing disc records, of a mally in shifting positionwith reference to the record on the table and means whereby upon thecompletion of a record the member is so moved to shift a record off thetable and replace it by another. 1

41. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a stack of records adjacent the phonograplu, table, a recordshifting member movable between the phonograph table and the stack ofrecords and cooperating with the stack to move the exposed record fromthe stack to the table while supported from below, the member being soarranged that a record may be manually placed in playing position andthe records in the stack may be changed at will and means forautomatically moving the member to shift records upon the completion ofa record.

42. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a magazine of records ad acent thereto, mechanismautomatically operated upon the completion of a record to replace theplayed record by a record from the magazine, and means controlled by thewithdrawal of records from the magazine andindependent of the number ofoperations of the replacing mechanism for stopping the phonograph.

- 43. The combination with a phonograph including a tone arm and meansfor centering a record on the rotating table so that a record may bemanually placed thereon and the needle of the tone arm manually appliedthereto to play the record, of a stack of non-magnetic records arrangedadjacent the table and biased so that, regardless of changes in therecords the exposed record always assumes the same definite positionwith reference to the table and means whereby upon the completion of arecord on the table it is automatically replaced by the exposed recordfrom the stack.

44. The combination with a phonograph Hill member movable back and forthabove the table of the phonograph and normally concentrically locatedwith reference thereto and means whereby upon the completion of a recordthe member is so moved to shift a record off the table and replace it byanother.

45. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords of a magazine of records ad acent thereto, a receptacle forplayedrecords, a pivoted shifting member normally at the rotating tablein shifting position so that a record may be manually placed on thetable and played, and means whereby upon the completion of the record onthe table, the member is moved to shift the record while supported frombelow to the receptacle, and return to normal position with a recordfrom the magazine which' it places centrally upon thetable.

46. The combination with a phonograph or the like'for playing discrecords, of a stack of, records adjacent thereto, aistop, means forbiasing said records against the stop so that regardless of changes inthe records 'theexposed record always assumes the same definiteposition, a pivoted shifting member normally at the rotating table inshifting position so that a record may be .-manually placed upon thetable and movable into cooperative relation with the ex posed recordwhereby a record may be manually removed from the stack at any time andplaced upon the table without interfering with the cooperativerelationship and means whereby upon the completion of a record on thetable, the member is moved to shift the record from the table andreplace it by the exposed record.

47. The combination with a phonograph forplaying disc records and a tonearm cooperating therewith, of a magazine for such records adjacent tothe turn table and means whereby when a record is placed upon the tableand the machine started, the record will be automatically shifted while.supported from below off the table when it is completed, a new'recordfrom the magazine shifted to replace it and the tone arm returned to thestarting position of the replacmg record.

48. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords, of a magazine for records adjacent thereto record shiftingmechanism cooperating therewith set into operation upon the completionof a record on the phonograph turn table whereby said record is-replacedby a record from the magazine, means for returning the tone arm to thestarting position of the record on the turn table-and manuallycontrolled means for rendering the shifting mechanism inoperativewhereby the record on the turn table may be repeated.

49. The combination with a phonograph or the like for playing discrecords of a stack of records adjacent thereto and biased so thatregardless of changes in the records the exposed record always assumesthe same definite position, a shifting member normally at the rotatingtable in shifting posh tion so that a record may be manually placed uponthe'table and movable into operative relation with the exposed record,

a receptacle for played records, and means,

shifting position so that a record may be manually placed upon the tableand mov able into cooperative relation with the exposed record, areceptacle for played records, and means whereby upon the completion ofa record on the table, the member ,iS moved while supported from belowto shift the record from the ,table so as to cause it to slide into thereceptacle and be replaced by the exposed reco In witness whereof, Ihave hereunto set my hand this 22nd day of September, 1919.

.. FRANK J. SEABOLT.

